Fred Stamps is hoping to get the ultimate stamp of approval this week from the Eskimos coaching staff.

After being on the shelf for an entire month, the receiver is finally healthy enough to play again.

While head coach Danny Maciocia isn't confirming Stamps will be on the roster this week when the club travels to Toronto to play Saturday, it appears the first-year Eskimo will get a plane ticket.

Practicing with the first-team offence this week, it seems he has recovered from an appendectomy on Aug. 31.

"I didn't find out I had an appendix problem until an hour before my surgery," said Stamps on one of the most bizarre health problem in the Eskimo dressing room this year. "I just thought I had food poisoning."

Stamps actually practiced the day before his surgery.

"I went home and took a nap. I woke up and I felt my chest was kind of tight," recalled the 25-year-old import. "I thought it was maybe gas or something, food poisoning.

"As the night went on, I couldn't sleep, couldn't move - it was uncomfortable. So, I came here (to the locker-room) like six o'clock the next morning and they took me to the doctor. I really couldn't stand straight up."

With his appendix out and the stitches from the surgery no longer a concern, Stamps was medically cleared to play last Friday. Not appearing to have any problems on the practice field this week, the Esks could use some fresh legs in the lineup this weekend.

If Stamps returns to game action for the first time since his visit to the hospital surgery ward, Quentin McCord is the likely candidate to sit.

SHORT YARDAGE ...

For the first time since 1998, it appears the Edmonton Eskimos will start two import offensive linemen this weekend. As usual, Raleigh Roundtree will patrol one spot on the front five. But Trey Darilek will become the second starting import.

This will mark Darilek's first appearance in an Eskimo uniform since joining the club from the Dallas Cowboys' training camp on Sept. 11.

At six-foot-five and 310 pounds, the 26-year-old is already well aware that the O-line in the CFL rarely features imports.

"That is OK. You hope that you fit in where they put you," he said. "You trust the coaches are going to make the best decisions for the team."

After spending two years with the Philadelphia Eagles - playing 18 games in the process - Darilek is classified as a three-year veteran in the NFL because of a short stop in Miami in 2006.

He is actually just three games away from qualifying for an NFL pension.

Diehard Eskimo fans will remember the club used two imports - Thomas Rayam and Jose Munoz - for a portion of 1998 on the offensive line.

FINISH LINES ...

RB Tyler Ebell (shoulder/ankle) is hoping to practice today for the first time this week. But at this point, he believes he will play Saturday ... SB Jason Tucker and LB A.J. Gass returned to practice yesterday ... LB Kenny Hollis is out for this week after aggravating a nagging hamstring problem last Friday ... After an MRI this week for a foot injury, FB Mathieu Bertrand will be on the sidelines for at least two weeks, Maciocia confirmed yesterday. There are fears he could be gone for the year.